Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) stands in the shallow waters along the Guadalupe River in New Braunfels, Texas. The demand for the feathers of snowy egrets, white ibises, and great blue herons in the late 19th and early 20th centuries made these birds a target. By 1886, more than 5 million birds were being massacred yearly to satisfy the North American millinery trade.